Confronting Homelessness, Addiction, and Hunger in the name of Christ

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For the 5th Gift of Christmas our neighbors gave to us Jars of Peanut Butter!

So jars of peanut butter aren’t exactly as flashy as 5 gold rings but they are just as valuable to us and the people in our community who are food insecure and need some assistance.

Peanut Butter is one of the main staples we include in our food bags that are given to families and individuals in need. Besides being so delicious and versatile, peanut butter adds protein and other health benefits for people of all ages and can quickly satisfy hunger as well as taste buds.

16 oz jars of peanut butter are preferred for their size in our food bags. Any brand or type of peanut butter is welcome. This is an item we are always in desperate need of so please spread the word to your social media contacts.

To donate just stop by our Administrative Office M-F between 8am – 5pm or call us at 301.739.1165 to work something else out if these hours don’t work with your schedule. Thank you for caring and sharing this Christmas season!

It’s been said that the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear. While that’s good and all we also know of another great way to spread Christmas cheer: cookies.

After all, it’s common knowledge that the way to any human’s heart is through their stomach and really there’s nothing better than enjoying some homemade Christmas cookies.

So we’re asking you, holiday bakers, to spread some Christmas cheer with our residents and guests at Christmas. Our kitchen, residential program and overnight shelter don’t close for holidays which means that The Hope Center will be where people spend Christmas Eve, Christmas and even New Years.

We try to make it as special as possible for everyone who comes to The Hope Center during the Christmas & New Years holidays. And we’ve learned that a table full of Christmas cookies always brings a smile to the faces of anyone.

We know that over the next couple of days you’ll be baking and creating all sorts of Christmas magic in your kitchen. And if you feel like you over-baked or have plenty to spare then we’d love to share your treats with our residents and guests. The more the merrier!

To donate, or learn more about our programs and services over the holidays, please call 301.739.1165 or email hagerstownrescue@verizon.net.

Day 3 is basic necessity found in basically every home in America. Pain relievers aren’t usually something people think of when donating to The Hope Center but it’s something that we definitely need. We’ll accept any brand or any size bottles of ibuprofen or acetaminophen.

And Day 4 brings along one of the most overlooked and yet most important items on our Wish List: toilet paper. As you can imagine we go through a lot of toilet paper between all of our residents, overnight guests, and day guests. Any brand or amount of toilet paper will be a huge blessing to our ministry.

If you’d like to donate any of these items, or any of the other items on our 12 Gifts of Christmas List, then just stop by our Administrative Office Monday – Friday from 8am – 5pm. If those times don’t work for you then please call us at 301.739.1165 or email us at hagerstownrescue@verizon.net to arrange a more suitable time.

Last Friday our residents and guests were treated to a holiday performance and dinner hosted by the choir from Maranatha Brethren Church.

Every Christmas the choir from Maranatha performs their seasonal cantata in the Trinity Center for anyone and everyone in the community. This year the choir performed, ‘A Christmas Prayer’. Our guests enjoyed listening to Christmas music and were reminded about the true meaning and purpose of Christmas. The crowd enjoyed hearing a full choir plus various soloists perform as the Trinity Center was filled with Christmas spirit.

Following the performance the choir from Maranatha was joined by others from the church to serve a free dinner to everyone in attendance.

It was another bitterly cold night in Hagerstown but that didn’t stop people from coming out to hear the choir sing. We had over 100 people spend the evening celebrating the birth of Jesus with us!

We are so thankful for all the support and love that Maranatha has given our ministry and residents & guests over the years. Their Christmas cantata performance has become one of our new Christmas traditions and we are so thankful for the choir coming to perform and serve the community.

If you were unable to join us last Friday then why not stop by Maranatha Brethren Church this Sunday evening (12/16) for the full Christmas cantata, ‘A Christmas Prayer’, being performed by the choir in their church. For more information on the cantata performance please call 301.733.1717. Maranatha Brethren Church is located at 19835 Scott Hill Dr. just off of Jefferson Blvd. in Hagerstown.

The second gift on our list is one that is universally beloved by all: spaghetti sauce! There’s nothing better than sitting down to dinner with a plate filled with hot spaghetti topped off with that delicious sauce.

We are always in need of spaghetti sauce, especially for our food bag program. In every food bag we put simple, easy, and delicious foods that are generally loved by everyone. And spaghetti easily falls into that category. Spaghetti is a quick but nourishing meal that busy families, or families with limited cooking background, can make without a lot of fuss or time.

But our kitchen also loves using spaghetti sauce for various meals for our residents and community guests so we go through spaghetti sauce quite frequently.

Any donation of spaghetti sauce is welcome but we do ask for 24 oz jars so they can easily fit into a food bag. No matter the brand or the flavoring of the sauce – we’ll use it! And if you’re feeling extra Italian at the grocery store and want to pick up some boxes of spaghetti then we most certainly will gladly accept those as well!

To donate please call 301.739.1165 or email hagerstownrescue@verizon.net. Or just swing by and drop off any donations to our office between 8am – 5pm M-F. And please help us by spreading our Christmas wish list to all your friends, family, co-workers, church, civic group or scout troops.

We’ve made our Christmas wish list and we’ve checked it twice and now we’re sharing it with you in the hopes that you can share it with others too!

From now until Christmas we’ll randomly post 12 different gift ideas that you, your family, church, friends, co-workers, civic club, and scout troop can help us get to make 2019 another stellar year. And if you are considering having a food drive many items on this list are a good starter for donated items for your drive!

The 12 Gifts of Christmas are things that we need all throughout the year so you can always keep this list and reference it as the seasons change in 2019.

So lets, get our 2018 Christmas list started…

There’s no better way to start our Christmas list than the way most of us start our day – with coffee! We have a lot of overnight guests and a lot of people eating their meals with us so you can only imagine how much coffee we go through each year as we feed thousands of people. So we are always desperately in need of coffee and powdered creamer. Any bit of coffee helps so pick up your favorite or grab one that’s on sale; we’ll use it and our guests will enjoy it no matter what!

To donate just stop by our office Monday – Friday from 8am – 5pm. If you’re unable to drop it off during those hours please give us a call at 301.739.1165 or email us at hagerstownrescue@verizon.net.

Any gift donation, big or small, is always welcomed and important to the continued success of this ministry. We appreciate any support from the community. But the most impactful thing is to share this with as many people as you can! We’ll be posting each of the 12 Gifts of Christmas on our Facebook page so you can always spread the holiday cheer through our social media pages. If you don’t follow us on Facebook just go to http://www.facebook.com/hopecenterhagerstown.

At the end of October we said farewell and see ya real soon to one of our staff members who was more like family than just a co-worker.

Sue Hosler retired this fall from The Hope Center. She started working with us in December of 2008. During her years as our Administrative Assistant, Sue talked with or came in contact with basically anyone and everyone who had anything to do with The Hope Center. She was the voice you heard when you called and the smile you saw when you dropped by.

We will definitely miss Sue for many reasons, but one major thing we could always count on Sue to do was to keep everything chugging away each day. Maintaining the office and all the various ministries can get pretty hectic and overwhelming, but Sue was able to always keep everything together and organized. During the busy holiday season Sue kept up with all the demands of the job including a phone that wouldn’t stop ringing and handling all the various donations of food and gifts from generous people during the season.

During Camp Wild Sue was always able to make sure parents’ needs were taken care of while various issues were sorted out. Every Monday of a new camp week was an adventure of sorts for Sue as she helped make sure all the concerns of parents were addressed and always kept up with questions about vans and pick up times.

For our Rock the Run 5K Sue made sure we had everything we needed and the event was efficient and fantastic. And the day of the event Sue was there helping to organize the food area for all of our participants and volunteers.

And those are just a few of the ways Sue really had a massive impact on the ministry at The Hope Center. But even beyond the paycheck Sue and her husband, Mark, pastor at Germantown Church of God, lived up to God’s calling by volunteering at various events at The Hope Center and hosting the men who are residents in our 13-month life recovery program, Foundations, each summer for a picnic just for them.

In addition to her job duties, Sue volunteered her time and services for our Party-in-the-Park events, Rock the Run 5K, Thanksgiving Day, Wildside Youth events, Christmas Day celebrations with our residents and community guests, and baking desserts for various activities and events at The Hope Center.

“I came to The Hope Center looking for a job – something to help pay the mortgage of a house we had left in another state and that we thought we had sold. Our tenant/buyers moved out leaving us with the house and the payments.

“What I found was a wonderful community of people who are sharing the Good News of the Gospel while trying to help some of the neediest people in our community. I considered it a joy to work with the Shanks, all my coworkers and faithful volunteers as we provided food, clothing, Godly counsel, shelter to men and activities to children. In everything that happens at The Hope Center the Gospel is presented – every day.

“I have been humbled many times those who I wished to bless by helping them turn around and blessed me.

“While I will no longer be answering the phone or greeting those who walk through the door every day, I will still be involved at The Hope Center. I will still volunteer at Wildside parties for the children. I will still show up at 6:30 AM on race day to volunteer. I will come with my church family to volunteer for evening chapel and the meal once a month. My husband and I will continue to support The Hope Center with our gifts and our prayers. Please consider joining us – pray, give, volunteer.”

Sue has been an incredible staff person, volunteer, and supporter of this ministry and we are so sad to say goodbye. She didn’t just come to do a job. She came to make a difference. And she did just that. Thank you, Sue, for your years of service at The Hope Center and for all the things you did and all the ways you helped reach thousands of people for Christ. We are so blessed to have been able to have you serve with us and we will certainly miss you each day!